Winds of the Storm
by TheUndyingCrystal
Summary: Rank 23 of the Ascended Blades, "Storm Wind" Noel, is sent undercover to Rabanastre to discover the meaning of a certain name. She joins Clan Centurio secretly, and searches for the infiltrator. She has served the Ascended Blades for centuries unerringly. Perhaps that may change. K Entertainment's Clan Infamous is mentioned, and is a prequel of sorts to that, and Abraham's Journal.
1. Orders

"Rank 23, why are you here?"

"I bring a report from Rank 5. She requested I deliver it to Rank 1."

"Rank 1? T-that's not possible."

"She was very clear."

"…If you are sure. She is upstairs in her office. Use this key."

"Thank you, Rank 10."

_My name is Abraham._

_For three thousand years I served the Esper Adrammelech._

_I was defeated and cast out by a man named Elijah._

_I travelled for days through the Dalmasca Westersands, naked and alone._

_I met a group of Viera, and began travelling with one named Coela. We arrived at Rabanastre and started a hunting clan, one that became the greatest in the world. It was called the Circle of Umbra._

_However, when I encountered the Esper Zodiark in hopes of asking where Elijah was, I was punished. Burning my body into a husk, I was bound to the Mask of Hunger, built from the bones, blood, metal, and ash of the Four Guardians of the Pharos at Ridorana. I was swathed within a cloak of darkness and the Mask, and my clan fell with me._

_It was then that I was known as Abraham, Seeker of the Abyss._

_I bore three children to Coela, but this was a mistake. She became even more corrupted than I could even imagine, and my sons with her._

_The leadership had fallen to darkness just as she did, leaving me the only one in control of my own power._

_I escaped, casting myself out of this cult of shadow and entropy, and killed my sons. They sought my Mask, and I had to kill them._

_For years after, I watched over a young man who sought to create his own clan._

_Fiera was his name. First he took on the title Big Bucket, and then Primo._

_But that's just one part of my story._

_I met a woman. A woman with shining silver eyes._

_Her name was Miria. The legendary Phantom Miria._

_She was the leader of an organization._

_One that was composed of women like her. People who had the same corruption I did, and contained it as I did._

_I bore a child to her. A girl, as I expected._

_Once she grew to be a fine young woman and joined the organization, I was able to breathe in relief. She had never known who her parents were. Didn't know that her leader was her mother as well, and the greatest hunter in Ivalice was her father._

_What organization is this, one asks?_

_It is the Ascended Blades._

A woman with white-blonde hair and silver eyes calmly walked up the stairs, her armor pieces clanking ever so slightly.

Her claymore lightly scraped the metal piece that strapped the weapon to her back. It seemed to not weigh her down in the slightest.

As she reached the top, her features were fully exposed.

Her hair was short and spiky, and she had a youthful and beautiful face.

Rank 23. "Storm Wind" Noel.

She continued onwards, passing by several doors in the polished white marble hallway until she found it.

Rank 1's office. Nobody, nobody except for the Five visited her.

Noel slightly shivered.

Not because of the cold, of course.

None of her kind were vulnerable to the weather, be it in the frozen north or in the blazing deserts.

She clenched the folder in her gloved hands, and pressed the key into the hole.

Instantly the door opened. Noel stepped inside hesitantly and studied the room as her eyes adjusted to the dark.

"Rank 23. I assume you are here to deliver the report." She heard the familiar cold voice of one of her comrades, but the person was not.

The door softly shut, and the room was suddenly lit.

It was a small office, but a well-furnished one.

Behind a stone desk sat a woman dressed in the same armor as she. One with the symbol of a trident. Phantom Miria.

Her hair was white-blonde, just like hers, but it was long and spiky.

"Y-yes, Rank 1." She answered nervously.

Miria smiled in a friendly manner, and gestured for the folder.

"Please. Call me Miria." She spoke in the cool and calculated tone that all her kind had. It was rare to see one smile like she did, unless it was a sarcastic taunt.

Noel set the folder down, and Miria flipped it open. She spent a few minutes studying the contents.

"Again, this Blackheart group." She muttered.

"Another one? That makes twenty smuggling rings that have ties to this group." Noel thought.

"…I'll discuss this with the others. Meanwhile, I am promoting you. You are now Rank 22. The former Rank 22 fell in battle this week, so wear your new title with pride." Miria broke off and told her.

"Thank you, Ra- I mean Miria." Noel bowed, and quietly left after giving a salute.

As she stepped out, Miria quietly opened one of the drawers in her desk.

Inside was an amulet.

"…Abraham…" She quietly sighed as she held it for a few moments and placed it back inside.

She shook her head and continued reading the report.


	2. Promotion

"Rank 22. Storm Wind Noel. Rank 2 wishes to see you in her office immediately." She read the order that had been deposited through the mail slot of her room.

It was the middle of the night, not that she cared.

None of them really needed eight hours, but they still needed some (at least three).

She quietly sighed. She had no idea why they provided beds here.

None of her kind has ever been able to sleep on them.

The only way they've ever really slept was putting their sword in the ground and sitting against it to sleep.

She stood, and slipped on her armor. Tabitha preferred clean-cut order and discipline even though she'd never say it openly.

Noel walked through the corridors and finally arrived at her office.

"Rank 22. Thank you for joining me so late." Tabitha curtsied and opened the door. She was in her armor as well. Her emblem was that of a cornucopia-reminiscent design.

She always braided her hair and hung it over her left shoulder. It barely reached her chest.

Tabitha was Miria's closest friend and follower. She always followed her orders without question or comment.

What was most interesting about her was that she had keen detection ability. Unmatched by anyone in the entire Blades organization.

Stories of how she could find someone hidden in a crowded city were rampant within the newer and lower ranking Blades.

"Apple? Helen gave me one a while ago." She offered, and I refused politely.

"If you don't mind me asking, Tabitha, I would like to know why I am called here so late." Noel spoke firmly.

"To the point. I respect that. Anyway, you are going on an extended assignment. Rabanastre. You are going to do something nobody outside of our organization has ever dreamed of." She began.

"What?" Noel asked.

"You are going to infiltrate Clan Centurio." She finished.

"What? How will I do that?" Noel coughed, heavily surprised and definitely worried.

"Patience, patience. The reason why is because we believe this group Blackheart might be planning something big. Your job is to infiltrate and find this spy. Capture him if you can, kill him if you have to. Either way, not one person in there can know who you are. Not even Montblanc." She explained.

"And how, though? My eyes are a dead giveaway." Noel continued.

"Use these. This medicine will change your eyes, but you must take it once a day." Tabitha extended her hand, several pills on it. Noel carefully collected them and slipped them into her pocket.

"Good luck…and I doubt I have to tell you that if this mission is a success, you will be up for a major promotion, Rank 22. Rest well." Tabitha dismissed her and opened the door.

Noel exited the room and continued through the hallway, and stopped at a window to look at the moon.

"Noel…how do you get yourself into these situations…?" She muttered and quickened her pace.


	3. Old Dalan

I stepped through the lines tentatively and turned at the corner.

I managed to pop one of the tiny pills of medicine into my mouth and swallowed.

I could practically feel my eye color change. Good.

Rabanastre was difficult enough to get into, but ever since the incursion two months ago, guards are more suspicious. An Awakened comrade of mine had snuck into the city, and a squad of high ranking Blades had found her.

Half of Lowtown was decimated during the fight and the Westersands gate had been badly damaged. Nevertheless we were paid in full. Three hundred million gil it was.

"Next!" I heard the guard call, and I walked in rhythm with the others entering the city.

I quietly listened to the person in front of me talk to the guard as he checked his passports and trade permits.

"Next!" He called again.

I winced as I stepped forward. Time for another mission of irritating infiltration. I took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Hello, sir." I greeted cheerfully.

"Hello, ma'am. Your passport, please?" He asked politely, and I gave it to him.

"An invitation to Clan Centurio, eh? Well, good luck to you, young lady." He coughed uncomfortably as he saw the seal on it. The silver seal of the Blades.

I winced again as I stepped through the gates and into the city.

"…Rabanastre isn't as impressive as I thought it'd be…" I muttered to myself as I glanced about.

People here were clearly living well and happy. But I knew if you went underground a bit, that would change. But first I needed to contact Dalan.

"Sir, do you know where Old Dalan lives?" I asked a passerby.

"…Lowtown…" He was heavily cloaked, his face covered entirely. However, it was his eyes that caught my attention. Bright silver.

"S-sir!" I called, but he disappeared within seconds as he entered a crowd.

"Must be my imagination." I thought, and headed for one of the Lowtown entrances nearby.

Thankfully, we had devised a clever system of smuggling our weapons and gear into the city without notice. They would be fine stored in one of the warehouses we kept…until I needed it.

It took an hour and twenty gil to find where Old Dalan was from the group of orphans wandering the streets.

I knocked at the door, and a child let me in.

I stepped over and passed several refugees taking shelter here.

"Old Dalan?" I spoke quietly as I walked through the small house.

"…Did someone call for me?" An old, cheerful voice rang outwards.

"Are you Dalan?" I asked again.

"Yes, yes, yes…please, step into the back, m'girl." He called again.

An old man with a beard awaited me, sitting amongst a few books, baubles, and pillows.

"…Kytes, would you mind leaving the room for a bit? She and I have to talk for a bit, m'boy." He stopped smiling as he saw me.

Hey, trust me when I say I wasn't overjoyed to look at him either.

The orphan he called Kytes stepped past me as I closed the door.

"…What do you need of Old Dalan, young lady?" He asked seriously. Something told me he rarely got this serious.

"I need you to get me into Clan Centurio." I asked immediately and coldly.

"And why, I might ask? Not to mention your…tone. Your emotions…" He trailed off as he studied me.

"I'm a Blade." I told him simply, and he paled.

"A-ah…I see. And how do you prove such a thing, I might ask?" He wasn't convinced.

I rolled my eyes in irritation.

"I have to prove the fact I'm a shadow-touched half-monster?" I muttered, and simply opened my vest. I could swear he even shuddered for the briefest of moments as he saw my scar.

"Does that dissolve any doubts you have?" I asked quietly, and he nodded.

"A-ahh…I can help you. Go to the northern district. Find the two guards at the door. Ask for Montblanc and say Old Dalan sent you. Take this letter with you and give it to him…may I ask why you're here? And why you're infiltrating Centurio?" He answered with an nervous tone, and handed me the letter. I took it and slipped it into my cloak.

"That's not your concern. But…if you must know, I'm here to root out the Blackheart spy in the clan." I sighed.

"Ah…then I say good luck to you…and give my regards to Miria." He had long regained his composure, and said goodbye with a smile.

"Good luck…with us there's no such thing." I muttered as I left the dilapidated apartment and walked away.

I got what I needed, anyway.


End file.
